Singapore National Day Special: Singapore in ASEAN

Singapore was born on 9 Aug 1965 and ASEAN was formed on 8 August 1967. This post takes a look at the economies of Singapore and its ASEAN neighbors. 

Singapore’s small land area and population belies its economic   heft.  The following images illustrates Singapore’s economic status in ASEAN and its contributions to the ASEAN economy.

The objective of this post is to show that in the mayhem generated  by Trumpian fake Economics, and MAGA geopolitical tensions with China, ASEAN is by itself an economic power house with its 670 million population (8.4% of World population) and US$3.8 trillion GDP (3.5% of World GDP, 5th largest economy in the World).  ASEAN is also China’s largest trading partner accounting for 17% of China’s total trade- and that is an important fact to take note of when dealing with an isolationist USA. The statistics on Singapore’s economic status within ASEAN serves to point out the role that Singapore can play in navigating ASEAN through the current global turbulence; especially when it takes on the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2027. 

# all statistics as of 2023 from https:// https://data.aseanstats.org/ 

Chart 1 (Above) : ASEAN Countries Visualization of Degrees of Similarity/Dis-Similarity.

Our introduction to Singapore starts with a chart that divides the 10 countries of ASEAN into clusters based on the composite score of 14 basic economic indicators such as land area, population, GDP, trade, employment, inflation, visitor arrivals, foreign direct investment etc. The composite score was based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the clustering by K-Nearest Neighbor K-NN). The chart is a visualization of the degree of similarity/dis-similarity between Singapore and its ASEAN neighbors. We can see two main clusters: Cluster 1. The less economically-advanced countries of Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos form one cluster. As latecomers to ASEAN (Laos and Myanmar 1997, Cambodia 1999) they have yet to reap the economic benefits of being in a regional economic grouping such as ASEAN. Cambodia and Laos are relatively small countries in terms of population and thus have certain handicaps; but Myanmar is not. Myanmar’s economic development is held back by its  social and political domestic issues.  

 Brunei’s proximity to this cluster is an anomaly and due to its small land area and population. In absolute terms, though not in GDP per capita, Brunei is also miniscule. Cluster 2. Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam form a second cluster- of rapidly developing economies. The Philippines lies halfway between Cluster 1 and Cluster 2. A myriad of social, economic and political issues prevent the Philippines economy from exploiting its potential despite its huge and young population of 110 million and huge land area spread over 7000 islands. 

Singapore and Indonesia are, from a statistical perspective, very far apart from the other 8 countries of ASEAN which means these two countries  have a very high degree of dis-similarity from the other 8 countries,

 Indonesia is an ‘outlier’ because of its sheer geographic size of approximately 2 million sq km spread over17,000 islands and across 3 time zones. Indonesia’s population of 280 million means a vast domestic market and its bounty of natural resources leads to a GDP of US$1.4 by far the largest in ASEAN. 

Singapore is out in front because despite its small land area and population it is an economic powerhouse. Chart 2 and Chart 3  below illustrates this point. In GDP its ranks almost equal with countries that have much larger populations such as Vietnam (population 100 million) Philippines (population 110 million) and Thailand (population 70 million). In GDP per capita Singapore ranks highest.

Chart 2: ASEAN GDP by Country

Chart 3: ASEAN GDP Per Capita

Chart 4 Singapore % Contribution to ASEAN GDP (2023)

Chart 5: ASEAN Direct Investment Inflows by Host Country:

Here we see that Indonesia by virtue of the size and potential of its economy attracts the most investment from its ASEAN neighbors. Singapore ranks second,

Chart 6: ASEAN Direct Investment Inflows by Source Country

Here we see that Singapore is by the largest investor in its ASEAN neighbors.

Charts 7 and 8: Singapore Intra-ASEAN Exports and Imports

Singapore ranks highest in both Exports to and Imports from its ASEAN neighbors

Chart 7: Intra-ASEAN Exports of Goods by Country

Chart 8 Intra-ASEAN Imports of Goods by Country

Table 1: ASEAN Exports Top 10 Destinations

Intra-ASEAN exports make up 22.9 % of ASEAN exports. USA and China have equal share of 14.8% of ASEAN external exports. 

Table 2: ASEAN Imports Top 10 Origins

Imports to ASEAN from China make up 22.9 % of total Imports. Intra-ASEAN imports are a shade lower at 21.6%